Chapter 20

A few days before the next leg of the tour, going to Europe, Richie still wasn't sure if he was going. Sure Daniel was feeling better but he was anxious to leave him. Daniel's stay at the hospital had been an eye opening realization, anything could happen to his little boy.

Time was pressing and he knew he had to make a choice.

Leaving his fans again wasn't something he really wanted to do either, they wanted to see him perform but instead of feeling excitement before a tour, he simply didn't feel it. Right now, family seemed more important to him.

He needed to make his mind up, he also couldn't leave the band hanging just like that. If he was going to stay home, he had to let them know sooner rather than later.

"Richie?"

He looked up when he heard Sarah calling from their bedroom. They had just put Daniel in bed for his morning nap and were gonna spend some time together. She probably had thought of what they could do.

Getting up from his desk chair in his casual office, he already thought of putting on a movie and cuddling on the bed with his beautiful wife.

His office was accross the stairs landing, two doors away from their bedroom. In under a minute, he was standing in their bedroom but Sarah wasn't.

"Honey?" He asked, unsure if she was in the bathroom or the dressing room.
"Bathroom." She answered.

After gently knocking on the door to be sure, he carefully opened it and peeked in.

"Alright?" He asked, seeing Sarah sitting on the toilet.
"No."
Closing the door behind him, he quickly walked over to her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm bleeding, I need pads, underwear."
"Bleeding?" He asked confused.

She couldn't be bleeding. Sarah was pregnant again, they were going to see a doctor to be sure. She couldn't be bleeding.

"Richie?" Sarah asked. "Pads?"
He shook his head, "Right," and turned to reach for a pad to hand to Sarah.
"Thanks. Can you get underwear and pants for me too?"
"Yeah."

Dazed, he turned and walked to the dressing room to get clean clothes. It couldn't be.

He watched Sarah change in the bathroom but it didn't register in his mind.

"Rich? Are you alright?" Sarah asked once she had finished changing and noticed her husband standing there looking pale and absent.
He looked up and blinked a few times, feeling tears slip away. "Yeah."
Sarah walked over to him to take his hand. "Let's go lay down before Daniel wants lunch."

She pulled at his hand to make him walk out of the bathroom and to their bed.

Once they were laying down on the bed, Sarah moved close to him and put his arm over her body as he hadn't moved.

"Richie?" She asked again. "It was early on, we couldn't be sure of it yet."
"Yeah." He agreed.
Not feeling conviced, Sarah added. "It happened before Daniel too. We just try again next week."
Hopeful, he looked up at her.
"We weren't going to give up that quickly, were we?" She asked, looking into his worried, hurt eyes.
"We try again." He confirmed.

Sarah was right, they wanted another baby and weren't going to give up to quickly after they hadn't even really started trying yet. After Sarah's period, they'd just try again until they succeed.

"I'm sorry." Sarah said, looking at her husband and seeing him more hurt than she was feeling.

Knowing it had taken a few tries to be sure Daniel was sure, she hadn't put too much hope in it yet. She'd told herself to not get attached for another few months when it would be confirmed and sure that she was pregnant. She still felt the loss right now but felt strong enough to try again. It wasn't meant to be right now.

"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault." Richie told her firmly, he didn't want her to blame herself for it either. "Next week we try again." He agreed with her. "I need to make sure you finally have your girl after all."
Happy that he was not giving up, Sarah snuggled into him again. "We've got time."
"Yeah. I'll be here to keep trying."
"You're touring." Sarah pointed out.
Richie shook his head gently. "No, I'm staying home."
Surprised Sarah looked up at him. "Why?"
He shrugged. "The last month and a half, I've spend so much time with everyone, it's been so nice and I don't want to lose that. I want to teach Ava and Noah to drive. I want to see Caleb graduate and go out to college. I want to see Daniel, crawl, stand, walk and talk. I'm not gonna be there for all that if I'm on tour. Most of all, I want to be here with you and keep trying for our baby girl." He explained. "I'm staying home."